2737 years ago, the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was sitting under a tree when a few leaves blew into his water. Shen Nung was a renowned herbalist and a bold man, and when he decided to try the water and leaf infusion, little did he know it would be the beginning of what we now know as 'tea'.

We've since discovered more than 1500 types of tea around the world, and chances are you'll have sipped on any number of blends from the green, black, white or oolong tea families, but not all teas are created equal.

There are 'purely for taste' teas, like the sugar-infused and quirky blends you'll find on the supermarket shelves, and there's good, healing, natural tea, like Mayde Tea.

Kate believes that nature provides the best resources for preserving our health, and she's an avid sustainability advocate with a story to share...

How does your background in naturopathy translate with Mayde Tea? Starting Mayde Tea seemed like a way I could live my life truly expressing myself and my passions through a product while feeling 100% fulfilled in what I’m doing every single day. Our blends are formulated using the philosophy of western herbal medicine, which is a predominant part of the naturopathy degree. I formulate each blend carefully to support a body system or ailment. Our digest blend, for example, has four healing herbs, and when mixed together in this recipe, they decrease inflammation, reduce bloating, heal the digestive lining, and relax stomach cramps.

Why are certified organic and natural ingredients so important? It’s important to use certified organic for health reasons; we aren’t designed to consume herbicides and pesticides. Using certified organic ingredients has environmental benefits too, it makes tea taste better, and of course, there's the therapeutic benefit. I wanted to take the consumption of tea back to how we traditionally started drinking it all of those years ago, and that’s a completely natural loose-leaf form, without the use of chemicals, machinery or additives. Tea should be therapeutic and medicinal, a beautiful ritual, and using conventional (instead of traditional) ingredients just doesn’t sit right with me.

How do you embrace sustainability through your packaging? My bulk supplies were almost always packaged in plastic. This is of course required for health standards to prevent contamination. There are other options though, so I spent a lot of time compromising with my suppliers to discuss sending my products with no (or at least less) plastic. In some cases, they switched the plastic to a really thick durable paper bag, which was the best outcome! I’m no environmental scientist, but I did a bit of research and put a lot of thought into the creation of my products to lessen the carbon footprint I leave on the natural environment while running my business. All of my products are made with recyclable packaging. The entire packaging of the retail boxes is paper or cardboard and comes with a wooden spoon and wooden peg, and the jars are made of glass. Glass is made of resources more plentiful and less environmentally damaging than those used to make plastic. Our glass jars have been designed for you to keep, to refill, use as a vase, or in the pantry. I personally think it’s vital to purchase higher quality, less often.

Why is 'inside-out' nourishment important?I think nourishment should be holistic, and my number one priority for both myself and my clients is to start with gut health. More than just digestion happens in our digestive system; our immune system lives in there too. Compromised digestive health will almost always lead to low immunity. Also, a lot of our hormones are produced in the gastrointestinal tract, including serotonin. Regardless of what clients come to me for, we always support their inner health starting with their diet, lifestyle, nutritional deficiency, digestive health and nervous system imbalances. Our skin and other external health ailments always reflect our inner wellbeing.

If you could recommend one tea from the Mayde Tea range to someone on the start of their health journey, which one would it be? I always recommend Serenity. Serenity is both nourishing and warming. It’s a stunning floral blend formulated to support both the nervous and digestive systems, making it a perfect pre-slumber elixir for a restful night’s sleep.